Review: ‘Blink 182’

It would be easy to ignore San Diego-based greenhorn punk band Blink 182 if they weren't doing so well these days. The youthful trio's unpolished music is loud and fast, and isn't terribly original.

It would be easy to ignore San Diego-based greenhorn punk band Blink 182 if they weren’t doing so well these days. The youthful trio’s unpolished music is loud and fast, and isn’t terribly original. But the band’s carefree, admittedly immature approach has endeared it to the high school skate set, earning brisk radio rotation of their current single, “Dammit,” and pushing sales of their latest release past gold (500,000 copies).

At an early (doors opened at 6:30) show at the packed and sweaty Palladium on Friday, the trio, who are in their early 20s, tore through an hourlong set comprised mostly of the frantically melodic numbers found on their “Dude Ranch” record (Cargo/MCA Records).

The usual punk tales of confusion, anger and horniness were amply covered, albeit kid-glove style (some refer to the Green Day-inspired sound as “Kiddie-Core”), happily lapped up by the teen-girl-dominated audience, comprising one of the wimpier mosh pits in recent local memory.

Guitarist-vocalist Tom DeLonge and bassist-vocalist Mark Hoppus madly hopped up and down and ran about the big stage as they shouted their liberating lyrics, encouraging the fans to throw their bras on stage, or to “take off your pants,” requests that were both enthusiastically answered.

The members of Blink 182 (a little-known Irish band called Blink forced the addition of the meaningless numbers) harbor no political or even serious ambitions where their music is concerned, but are instead devoted to self-deprecation, frivolity and being in a perpetual state of growing up. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.